1st Source systems breached

No customer monetary losses reported; new debit cards are on way.

No customer monetary losses reported; new debit cards are on way.

May 31, 2008|YaVONDA SMALLS Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- If you're a customer of 1st Source Bank, keep an eye out on your mailbox. Letters mailed out Thursday have been alerting customers of a recent breach in the bank's computer system that affects customers' debit cards. Those who haven't received letters yet should receive them today or Monday. "We're working with law enforcement, and they have asked us not to share a lot of details about the breach," said James Seitz, senior vice president, consumer and electronic banking. In a nutshell, a hacker broke into the system from the outside and compromised the system. 1st Source began working with law enforcement and called in a forensic computer specialist team from the Washington, D.C., area to shut down the breach immediately and to help determine who was behind it. "May 12 we found out about it," Seitz said. "We shut it down." 1st Source said it doesn't believe that any personal information was obtained by the breach, and it doesn't look like anyone has used the information to take money from anyone's account. It has taken a while to get all the information out about the breach, Seitz said, since the bank had to spend time going through all of its laptops and computer systems. "You've got to understand what you have," he said. Because of the breach, 1st Source will be issuing new debit cards -- which will use the same PIN numbers as the old ones -- to all of their customers who have one. Seitz didn't say how many cards would be issued, though he did say the debit cards should make their way to customers the second week of June. In the meantime, customers can keep using their current cards, which will be deactivated after the new ones are in use. Though the breach is something rather new for 1st Source, Seitz said these types of breaches seem to be hitting businesses in general more and more this day and age. "Certainly, it's never happened to us before," Seitz said. "But it's becoming more prevalent. Daily, banks are going through this." 1st Source, he said, has been working with all its vendors to continue strengthening everything it's doing from a general computing standpoint. In the meantime, he advises customers to take advantage of ID monitoring services, which helps monitor all their activity through the credit bureau. Customers can speak with their bankers about the service, Seitz said. He also advises customers to check their bank statements to ensure that everything is intact in light of the recent breach. "Our goal," Seitz said, "is to make sure all of our customers' information is protected." Staff writer YaVonda Smalls: yavsmalls@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6248